Railroad-cab



C. P. KENYON.

Car Coupling.

N0. 21,502. Patented Sept. 14, 1858.

CHARLES l?. KENYON, OF VILSON, NORTH CAROLINA.

RAILROAD-CAR COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,502, dated September 14, 1858i.

To all whom it may concern.'

lBe it known that I, OI-ms. P. KENYON, of Vilson, in the county of Wilson and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Coupling Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the cou pling machinery; Fig. 9., a longitudinal sec tion of the coupling box and draw bar containing the vertical slide and the pusher, the fastener, and the coupling bolt and link; Fig. 3, a front View of the coupling box; Fig. A, a longitudinal elevation of the slide and pusher working in the coupling box and the fastening pin; Fig. 5, a top view of the coupling box.

(Fig. l.) N is a section of the body of the car to which the coupling machinery is attached; O is a beam running across the bottom of the car through which the bolt L passes, fastening the body of the car to the truck. A is the coupling box, D the hanger,E the adjustable slide working in the hanger D, g g the draw bar, M the spring box containing the spring, P a slot in the draw bar in which a key is inserted fastening the draw bar g g in the spring in the spring box M, H a supporting staple through which the draw bar g g passes, thereby preventing the said draw bar and plank I from swagging down by increasing the distance of the bearings, I a plank to which the spring box M and staple H are fastened, K an iron piece fastened to the plank I by bolts passing through it and the plank, said iron piece passing into a groove in the center of the bottom of the beam O and having a hole near the end of it through which the bolt L passes, thereby fastening the drawing machinery to the car.

(Fig. 2.) S is a vertical. slide working horizontally in the grooves z' i. Said grooves are in the top, back, and bottom of the inside of the coupling box A and passing longitudinally through the center of the top and bottom of the inside of the said coupling box and through the holes for the coupling bolt g; r a pusher for the purpose of pushing forward the slide S in the grooves increases in size from the top to the bott-om K hole B, also gradually increases in size from the opening on the out-side of the coupling box to the inside opening which is in the groove z' in the back part of the inside of the coupling box and as near as possible in the center of said groove z' between the top and bottom of the inside of the coupling box. The form of the hole and the pusher prevents the pusher from coming out at the top of the coupling box when the slide S is in the grooves z' z', the said pusher being placed in the coupling box before putting in the slide S. Said pusher is curved and square and larger at the end inside of the coupling box than at the end outside ofthe top of said coupling box and corresponds in form to hole B in which it works and serves for the purpose of pushing forward the slide S when preparing to couple the curve of the pusher 1, and hole B is an arc of a circle as near as possible passing from the center of the groove z' in the back part of the inside of the coupling box A back and upward to the top of the back part of the outside of said coupling box and through the supporting ridge C on the top of the outside of the coupling box; t a fastener for the purpose of retaining the pusher r and slide S in the coupling box. Said fastener passes through a small hole in the groove 2' in the bottom of the inside of the coupling box A. The head of the fastener resting in said groove prevents the pusher r and slide S in the coupling box from coming out. The hole through which the fastener passes is in front of the coupling bolt hole. The fastener is bent on the outside of the bottom of the coupling box to prevent its coming out by a hole in the back part of the coupling box in the groove i in the bottom of the said coupling box to permit any dirt, dust, &c., getting in grooves to pass out, thereby not impeding the working of slide S in the coupling box; C, C supporting ridges on the f/.i o lateral concave grooves in the bottom of the inside of the coupling box groove c'. Y

(Fig. 4L.) S is the slide working in the coupling box A; r the pusher for the purpose of pushing forward the slide S in the grooves z' z' for the coupling box; t the fastener for the purpose of retaining slide S and pusher r in the coupling box. The slide S is concave in front, so as to lit as near as possible the back part of the inside of the coupling box when pushed back by the coupling link y, the projections formed by the U shaped concavity in front on the top and bottom of the slide S reaching nearly to the coupling` bolt holes. When the slide S is pushed forward by pressing on the top of the pusher a" for the purpose of coupling, the pusher by its slight downward pressure prevents the slide S, against the center of the back part of which it bears, from working back and from under the coupling bolt when the cars are in motion.

The mode of working the machine is as follows: The slide S being pushed forward in the grooves z' z' by means of the pusher r being pushed vdown into the coupling box covers the holes on the inside of the coupling box through which the coupling bolt passes. Said bolt being put in its place in the top of the coupling box rests on the slide S. The machine is now ready for coupling. The coupling link 3/ being pushed with the coupling box pushes back t-he slide S in the grooves z' z' (said slide S pushes back and up the pusher at the same time) thereby uncovering the coupling bolt holes in which the coupling bolt has been placed. The coupling bolt now falls, passing through the link y and fastening it merely in the coupling box A. The link g/ now bears against the top of the inside of the coupling box back of the coupling bolt and rests in the concave lateral grooves o 'v in the bottom of the inside of the coupling box. The link is thereby held in a sufliciently horizontal position to enter an opposite coupling box,

the grooves Q) 'v preventing it from working laterally in the coupling boxrwhen the cars are in motion for the purpose of coupling.

l/Vhen the coupling boxes on different cars (Fig. l) are not of the sameheight from the track, thereby preventing straight coupling links from entering opposite coupling boxes, they can be made even by means of the adjustable slide E through which the draw bar g g passes moving in the hanger D and fastened to the desired height by means of a bolt passing through holes F in the lower part of the hanger D and slide E, the said bolt being fastened by a key as at F. Vhen the draw bar g g and disk K, working in the spring box M become worn by use or the draw bar is too small for the holes in the disks, the plank I and draw bar g g sw'ags down, thereby preventing the draw bar from working freely in the disks and elevating the mouth of thecoupling box and spraining the coupling machinery when the cars buff together. To prevent the draw bar from swagging, said draw bar is increased in length and passes through the staple H, thereby increasing the distance of its bearings.

I do not claimgt-he Vcoupling box A, or the draw bar g g, or the hanger D, or the spring or spring box M, or the plank I, or the mode of fastening the drawing machinery to the car.

l. The combination of the grooves z' z', supporting ridges C, C, lateral grooves o, fu, pusher 7' and block S arranged and operating substantially as described. Y

2. I claim adjusting the coupling to suit cars with platforms of different heights by means of the slide E, and a bolt passing through the holes F, arranged and operating substantially as described. Y

CHAS. P. KENYON.

lVitnesses:

It. D. SPIVEY, P. P. CLARK. 

